Bachelor of Arts in Cinema

The major in cinema combines a humanities approach to film studies with a variety of options in filmmaking and video production.

Students start their work in the cinema major with CIN 150 Introduction to Film which provides an overview of film as a cultural and artistic form. After this introductory course, students take courses from three categories which each build upon their knowledge and understanding of film:

Grounding. These courses provide a foundation for the study of film, encompassing film history, theory, criticism and production. Students take any three of these four courses: Film History, Film Analysis, World Cinema or Introduction to Filmmaking.

Study in Depth. These courses offer a more intensive analysis of specific films based on a certain director, genre, nation or theme. Production courses focus on making specialized kinds of films, like documentary or narrative films. In this category, students take any three of these courses: Film Directors, National Cinemas, Film Genres, Studies in Film, or Topics in Filmmaking.

Self-Definition. In this final component of the major, students develop a concentration in film studies, filmmaking or some combination of these two by taking five additional courses. Courses that satisfy this requirement include any of the courses listed under "Study in Depth" that examine specific kinds of films or filmmaking, screenwriting courses, an advanced course in producing and directing, and selected media production courses offered by the School of Communication and Hartford Art School.

Many students also complete internships and independent studies under the supervision of a faculty member in Cinema.

Course Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Major

Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Arts in Cinema

Students in the Bachelor of Arts program in Cinema are expected to become proficient in these learning outcomes:

Students should understand the idea of film as an art form and the essentials of film style and know the basics of the language of cinema in order to talk and write accurately and meaningfully about films. They should be aware of a range of films greater than already known from TV and recent Hollywood.

Students should gain a basic understanding of fundamental aesthetic and conceptual approaches to digital video production and non-linear editing, and become able to script and produce short films based on these principles while working both independently and in small groups.

Students should have an understanding of the history of film from 1895 to the present, including: major developments in technology, economics, and society that influenced the production of film; and prominent styles of film from various historical periods. They should become proficient in writing about these topics.

Students should understand the basics of a number of methods of analyzing films, be able to apply these methods to a variety of films, and know why film studies favors certain methods.

Students should have an understanding of specific kinds of films based on: extended close study of one or more of the major individual figures in cinema; a thorough survey of one or more of the major national cinemas; one or more historically important genres in cinema; or intensive study of a motif, topic, or period in film, such as City in Film, Orientalism in Film, and The Auteur in Hollywood.

Students should demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of various types of filmmaking and be able to create a film using these principles.

Students should demonstrate an advanced level of proficiency in filmmaking by producing and directing their own films working through the stages of pre-production, production and postproduction.

We regularly evaluate the performance of students in Cinema courses to ensure that students that complete our program are proficient in these areas.